Part 120
Sitemap --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- - Lots More fabulous items/ideas for a Bioshock Rapture MMORPG --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- - Part 120 ''' --- --- --- --- --- '''OMG, That *Evil* Ryan's "Pheromone Control !!!! " -- Not Permanent : Ryan allegedly was going against his Philosophy which endorsed Free Will - WHAT alot of rigmarole. Many people weren't Splicers, thus wouldn't be affected. What exactly WAS the control ? Pheromones don't give you "WYK" type robot control, it would be more like a mood changer (' Stop Fighting People !!! ... Everything is Good, Stay Calm ... ' ). The Splicers already had 'Sold Their Souls' to ADAM (so were kinda Free-Will-impaired already), and were being very destructive/disruptive. So maybe it is alot more like the action you take against a dangerous drunk or crazy druggie or a mentally-ill person playing with a gun (a public safety issue), or for a murderous property-destroying mob. It might afterwards take developing an Un-Modify cure which undid any 'control' genetic damage/modifications (there were alot of people left who were NOT insane, who could do that for Ryan ... Sofia Lamb found some of them). Unless it was unneeded -- if the effect just eroded away (like other ADAM-based changes did). Ryan wanted his City to live, and wanted neither crazy nor impaired people to get in the way of its getting it back to normal. --- --- --- Columbia is a Godless Place : Is it any wonder that EVERYONE in it is or becomes evil ?? Sorry Levine, this is NOT Christianity in any form, and to even imply that is wholey dishonest. Sorry Levine, it is NOT America in any form. Exaggerating something to "make a point" is not a valid argument method, and is usually called Propaganda (and generally is simple dishonesty). I understand that claiming social relevancy might be good for game sales, and thus your building the game up to be more than it was. But when all is said and done, this was rather overly done in Infinite BS, and tainted the game's story. --- --- --- "Cats Sing The Classics" - a Popular Record in Rapture (at one time) ''' : "Gives Sander Cohen 'a Run For His Money'" - Rapture Tribune --- --- --- '''Harlem Globetrotters Visit Rapture : Seriously ?? Well they did visit Gilligan's Island after all ... Meadow Lark was fried by a Splicer, but it didn't even break their stride ... The Senator lost as usual (fortunately with minor casualties). --- --- --- Old problem of Tuning the Game So That Players Don't Just Walk All Over Their NPC Opponents : This MMORPG Game is at least a magnitude more complex (actions, impairments, potential tactics, terrain complexity, motives, goals) means it is a whole lot more complicated to Tune/Adjust/Balance all the interrelated elements AND make them consistent (easily exploitable loopholes for a single optimized general tactic only makes a game less interesting and repetitive). SO a Modular Adaptable System is logical to allow improvements to be more than what's offered in most other games. * Less 'god-like' buffs and advancements for the Player's Character. SO things don't have to be variably-tuned as much, or as blatantly contrived, as in MMORPG games where entire areas/map sections 'go grey' and are useless outside of a certain 'level range' of applicable Players (simply requiring a higher Player level, or too easy - entirely outclassed). * Modular - New logic from Player Creators can be added to allow NPC opponents to do Tactics not previously seen. First - a variety of opponents of varying levels of difficulty (it is likely playtesting will only uncover partial determining of how difficult Players find the game, and adjustments would need to be made post-release). Hopefully, the Creation Community would get better at judging such things (and can pre-fix them). * Adaptable - more varieties of difficulty -- some made to match Players 'level', others allowing Players to figure out how 'deep in the doo-doo' they want to get. To have an adequate number of ways to leave a bad situation - to recognize it and then retreat so as to avoid worse consequences. Retreating (strategic withdrawl) should frequently be an easier option in many situations. Also multiple ways to handle the same problem (preferably without one constant 'loophole' which will have Players 'shortcutting' much of the interesting game activities). * Scenario-wise - Multiple Players 'ganging' up on the poor Splicers ... Well, a bigger Player 'party' can then attract MORE Splicers (or appearing to present a bigger threat - to a Faction, thus to have the Splicers bring into play more resources). * Capturing a Splicer is one problem, getting it back to the New City for 'Curing' might be a whole 'nuther ... Remember these aren't mindless animals (we hope the AI can make them more than that), and you may have some 'friend' of that captured Splicer on your trail seeking to free its associate. * There also may be a problem of 'too hard' -- of Players facing the first real 'Smart' NPC opponents (as opposing real Players faced in Multi-Player) and being overwhelmed when they actually have to 'Think a Little' or face situations they cannot "Save And Reload" repeatedly til they find a solution. * That's another issue : of things happening too fast (or then too slow) for the Player to issue commands or to activate desired actions. Despite interface improvements, it just never is natural to most Players and fumbling with an interface is one of my least favorite part of many games (Quote - "I'm supposed to be fighting game opponents, NOT the damned fricken crappy game interface ! " - Me). * Some Missions informing/warning/cautioning of the Player beforehand what they might face (even better if they actively can inquire), to make a decision about attempting it, or for them to adjust the resources they will want to apply and be able to do preparations. (Many/some missions won't give the Player a clue, so that they can get real practice making 'Strategic Retreats', which is part of the realism). Missions generally won't be repeatable so you won't have the usual MMORPG crutch of Try-Fail-Repeat (or the "Look It Up On The Internet" Cheat). * Some Players may prefer doing many things completely solo (not even with any Team NPCs). Missions should scale to this game play preference (though rewards should probably scale to the added complexity of the difficulties of running/coordinating the NPC "Team"). Of course 'retreating' with a single person is usually easier than extracting an entire 'Party' from a bad situation. --- --- --- Secretsssssssss ... ''' : I always liked games with Secret Passages. Well, in Rapture more than half the place is really 'secret passages' (all the services/utility areas not visible from the space the majority move about in). Various maintenance hatches and passages (vents/manhole covers/shafts,gratings with drainage-ways underneath, utility rooms, spaces where pipes/cables run and various machinery operates). Different kinds of access skills being required by the Player, tools/equipment - Ways to spot and open them. Locks ... (yeah right, Elizabeth "learned Lockpicking from a book" ... a rather feeble plot excuse that one) Blockages and repairs - with lack of maintenance things often start to 'gum up', and they may need a little 'help' to allow passage. Etc ... --- --- --- '''This MMORPG - A Different Game that Requires Thinking/Planning/Imagination : There may have to be a 'Dummies Corner' where many Players wind up, again and again, before they adjust to playing a game differently than the "dumbed-down" typical MMORPG experience. Fortunately in this MMORPG you don't get killed so easy, though crawling away in a severely injured/maimed state wearing a Clown Outfit (or a old Little Sister dress) some Splicers derisively dressed you in for fun (after looting all the rest of your gear and clothing) might be alot more embarrassing. * The Jail - where impolite/anti-social Players are taught New Rapture's rules * The Hospital - where adjustments are made to the Players 'Cure' after they do too many crazy/stupid things. Society has a way of 'adjusting' malignancies. Have a Mini-game experiencing the 'Cure' Process. * The Hospital (again) - where healing and repairs get done after the Player assumes the MMORPG allows the same contrived suicidal tactics that so many other games allow. An extended stay or quick release in a decrepit/disabled state can be a learning experience. * Tied Up By Splicers and Left To Rot - blundering about so loudly even the dead hear you, gets you swarmed by incensed Splicers and 'neutralized' for quite a while. Mini-game of trying to untie knots while avoiding getting eaten by rats ... --- --- --- Page on Columbia/Infinite BS Teardown Fink The Genius Needs Help : Who (as in Engineers, Technologists, Scientists, Craftsmen...) would actually come to this creepy Cult Compound In The Sky ?? So it was then only the Luteces who invented all these (post Columbia launch) technology advancements all by themselves ((WHAT ? Before Columbia's launch they had all this (?) six months to do it all ? Sorry Harry Potter is Sci-Fi compared to that idea.)) Or did they just read about new things in Popular Mechanix and Scientific American and then whip out all the complicated mechanisms and products (and teach all the workers how to do all the tasks needed to make/operate these wondrous things) ??? A better written story might've avoided this little problem, but we didn't get that. The game's much touted 'social relevancy' swirls around and goes down the Toilet of Reality pretty quickly when illogic and fantasy are evident everywhere you look. Stealing all kinds of THINGS (not ideas) out of Tears MIGHT have been plausible and then having Columbia strewn with all kinds of anachronistic things -- instead of all that weird stuff in Infinite BS which even the lamest SteamPunkers would be embarrassed about. --- --- --- Nostalgia is Cheap for Game Design : Styles already created so the game company doesn't have to spend great effort to do appropriate styles that look right for their 'theme' (it takes alot of REAL talent to make up new styles with proper balance and form). Recognizable things/objects that Player does NOT have to think twice what they do -- you need less detail/effort spent to 'explain' what it is as you have, as when it is some unknown lump (as to what it does and how it relates to other Objects, etc...). Music/art to be remembered/recognized were originally well done real (world) things that passed Real World standards (but was created/earned by someone else's achievement/skill). Nostalgia Objects are easier because they come all integrated together/cohesive/consistent in well known sets from the past (work has been done by real experts/artists long in the past ... who don't need to be paid development $$$, and the older they are the less royalties need be paid). Simple Fact : Copying an idea is MUCH easier than coming up with it yourself. Botching its use is even easier, when the game developer doesn't understand or doesn't care enough to use previously existing REAL things correctly in an appropriate way. --- --- --- Fontaines Delusion : Allegedly, Fontaine planned to leave Rapture and spread his Power Grab to the rest of the World. How exactly did he expect to do this with limited Sea Slugs/ADAM (the reason 'Little Sisters' were used in the first place), and a bunch of ADAM-addled crazies ?? So no huge armies of Splicers possible, who anyway now would face REAL weapons used on the Surface. So it was a delusion of a small time hood who would have to face TRUE ruthless bastards on the Surface, instead of the handy free largely rule-following environment he had operated (and abused) within Rapture. Ryan himself had all but thwarted Fontaine, but the lame surrender-monkey storyline allowed Fontaine brief hope before his inevitable failure. --- --- RETROACTIVE Diversity : Why wasn't Ryan Presto-Change-O'd into a Laplander then ? (( That woulda been mo 'diverse', no ? )) Isn't having yet another 'jewish' character getting rather the opposite of 'diverse' ??? (Jews are just some fraction of a percent of the World's population, so having Tenenbaum's foot would still be overkill as 'authentic diversity' representation goes). See info about Ryan's family names which showed this was pretty much a 'new' thing long after the original character was defined and spelled out in 2 games AND a Novel (Its clear that John Shirley never got "the memo" about this "Ryan is a Jew" stuff). Actually, what this is all about is Ken Levine trolling (in 2015) for a new job, and 'talking' up something he thinks will get notice. Maybe next time delivering a better game would be ALOT better than faking 'social relevancy' as a gimmick. --- --- --- Spider Splicers - an Attempt To Create an Adult Sea Slug Symbiont ? ' : A possible explanation for One of the most modified (but still anthropomorphic) of the Splicer types. Perhaps a Project by Fontaine to try to solve his ADAM supply problems (one to generate big bucks from the consumer market... or maybe for later in the larger World). Larger than children, so capable of holding more ADAM than a child (?), which is likely to be limited by its toxicity - allowing them to be better Slug Farms. We might find an "Aliens" style lab (Fontaine Futuristics) with various 'failed' experiments - some quite ghastly looking. But then Fontaine had little regard for human life, didn't he ? (They sorta did this in BaSx Columbia when they made that preposterous assumption that Fink could do the bio-science needed for ADAM, and the assorted other nonsense to excuse the absurd ''TEKNOLOGEEZ). Possibly something to do with 'Little Brothers' (those pesky orphan inmates which MUST have some use ...). What other ways did Fontaine disposed of his useless male orphans (besides the ones used on display to show off in his 'altruistic' propaganda efforts). It should have looked odd or even suspicious to Rapture Citizens that the 'orphanages' ONLY took little girls. Likely the male orphan might be still useful for 'experimentation' of various sorts without the need for 'volunteers' (or if he was dastardly enough, to just chop them up for fishing bait). Perhaps accelerated growth (ala Jack) to make 'goons' for his Splicer Army (a plan only just started before his 'death') ?? --- --- --- '''Columbia : A Scattered Mess : Some of the concept art showed a much more interesting cityscape for Columbia (instead of turning into a ridiculous exaggeration of some Cultist Disneyland). They could have make it one chunk that was grouped bit less "open" (massing the way real cities do), and taking advantage of being more 3 dimensional in the game levels (not delivering mostly just a "run of the mill" game's simple movement surface, with a few of the usual player-maze dodges). Traversable 3D terrain has more difficulties for the game developer. Needed a Rail/Trolley travel (think something closer to the elevated train lines in NYC) to make getting around the ENTIRE city convenient, instead of wholy bothersome (floaty cabs might've been something to make the whole thing resemble a real operating city/town, more). There was little sign of the Skyway being used for passenger traffic (the absurd hookon idea wouldn't really work for anything like what a city/town needs). A big part of 'modern' life, circa 1900, was "why walk, when you can ride". Have the City not be so disjoint/separated/floating off in distance. But the (games) 'skyline' was pretty (and originally a much bigger part of the game), and justified the city layout to be separated (and now it was harder for the player to be able to ask "Why Cant I Go Over There" -- which would require more details to be provided rather than distant views of simple static backdrop pictures and simplified gianourmous objects). Playing "Level" size had to be strictly controlled -- Meaning : those early Trailers showing Booker skylining though a huge cityscape were ONLY advertising hype (a lie to the customers) *OR* they completely Botched It by thinking it was possible, and THEN not being able to deliver (I don't recall the company giving BACK the industry awards for what basically was a lie/fraud, when they probably KNEW at that point they could NEVER deliver it. But, but, but NOTHIN). --- --- --- "Telharmonium" in Rapture - Phone-Line-piped Ambient Music ''' : A real world thing - http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-telharmonium-was-the-spotify-of-1906 Probably could be done easier with the 45+ years on technology (by then Radio was IT, EXCEPT in Rapture Radio uses phone-lines/wires - as radio waves go through water quite miserably). This thing coulda been even in Columbia (maybe as a method of keeping the half-lobotomized Untermenschen calm...), certainly possible for the early days before Radio was developed. Except then Columbia would need to show signs of the mess of telephone wires that REAL cities had (there's yet another Opportunity Lost for a more Spiderman-like 3D game - no doubt the magic 'Skyhook' thing could have you hanging and flipping about on those wires, no ? So sad.). --- --- --- '''Prepaid - We Don't Offer Credit : Sander Cohen was in Rapture fairly Early, and was rich or influential enough to get his Fleet Hall Theater built (attached to Fort Frolic/Poseidon Plaza which was probably funded by others). Consider that everything in Rapture had to be prepaid for, and so much of it (in the game) looks customized for specific use, and thus was planned that way before built. That would mean that they had to be funded at an earlier time by their intended customer/owner. Perhaps alot of the Rapture we DIDN'T see would be more generic (more of less-expensive modular primary structural shell, still with some (re)customization of the interior, making it more changeable/adaptable sometime later). Assume that people coming to Rapture would liquidate their Surface assets (hardly the 'walk off a beach' scenario for most of the emigrants). Arrangements would/could be made to do that over the course of years to maximize the wealth obtained (not sell at firesale prices) which then could be invested into Rapture (which WOULD need such a supply of money to ever have gotten built). --- --- Lethe Tonic - "Lobotomy in a Bottle" ' : Such a ADAM Tonic would have been a great advantage to use in sending away the people who no longer were suitable to Raptures society, and who thoroughly had proved they only belonged in the Land of Parasites on the Surface. Memory erasure would be a very important tool if Rapture could use it to preserve its own security through secrecy. Ryan, given this idea, WOULD CERTAINLY have ordered a development project to see if it could be made possible/workable. If so, it may have been one of many things that were never completed because of the 'civil war'. Anything that affects the brain is complicated, and wiping memories of Rapture WITHOUT wiping the individual's life and personality likely would be difficult. There probably would be a whole system of 'processing' such people, employing that Tonic and a methodology to facilitate its goal. Preliminary experimentation likely would have been in the City's Insane Asylum(s) (which later would be located and expanded in the Persephone complex). --- --- '"Time is Money" - Clocks Watches and Standard Time in Rapture... ''' : RTS - New Rapture Standard Time (whole City except Lamb's sick La-La-land ... maybe) Isn't Time distorted for Splicers ? Well We Ain't Splicers No More. Day/Night cycle for the City (from its start) to facilitate normal "circadian rhythms" for the populace. Business hours... Businesses once operated with normal 'business hours', which also allowed for 'closed' time when other activities could be carried out without interference (particularly transportation constraints many cities had). --- --- --- '''Amusing Things To See in Rapture : Or which once were there to be seen ... (MMORPG's Flashbacks) Why any hotel is needed (or could exist as a viable business) in a limited microcosm city would be the question. Those that did exist would likely need an excuse (meetings/conventions/parties, private assignations) or a gimmick (tourism when you are mere miles from where you normally live). Gimmick for a small Hotel where you live in rooms that are fitted out like a submarine modeled on US Navy subs (which were actually roomy compared to some subs built by other nations, or earlier). Another 'Hotel' might be built with the plans of a Buckminster Fuller House circa 1930 pix The Honeymoon Suit at the Bioluminescent Abyss Falls (where the current turbulence drags nutrient laden waters from Rapture's Sewer Outlets down and stimulates the glowing bacteria/higher-lifeforms in the water). Arcadia Camping ... Carnival/Circus/Ethnic Villages ... Restaurants with 'odd' ambiance/motifs/themes/shows/facilities Lotsa ideas are still open for unique places in Rapture ... --- --- --- Computer Games In Rapture : McClendon had a "Text Adventure" game called "The Colossal Anthill" (which derisively satirized the parasitic Surface World - as in the specifications made by Ryan who was paying for the project) in development at his company. It was disrupted by the Civil War and never finished. With a Text interface it would have been playable via the Text-Capable Phones then available in Rapture (you will see some of these still in use in the MMORPG). Because of the increased duration of customer phone use for anyone playing, it was no surprise that RT&T also invested in part of the game's development. To Play, you type into the 'terminal' command words/sentence-phrases that you slowly learn and figure out as you play. Then a text description is printed out about where you are in the imaginary world, and what objects/monsters are present and menacing you, and what actions give results. Your goal is to explore and to find your way out (likely ending would have led to Rapture). North, South, East, West, Up, Down - standard commands to transition between 'rooms (game locations) via a direction if one is offered. "aynrand" typing this secret nonsense word takes you to the secret room where Parasites can't find you. "Taxman" - you have to find 'Your Blood' to pay him to stay out of 'The Big House', and even "Death" can be no relief to its excesses. "Disincentive Center" - N S W E doors lead to Crony-Capitalism, Progressive Tax, Excessive-Regulation, Welfare-State "War-Monger" - friend of all Tyrants and Death-Merchants (Parasites usually get others to do the fighting which benefits them). "Redistribution-of-Wealth" - a poison pit and one way path to the Disincentive Center (the Taxman is frequently camped out here) "Ant-People" - people content to just exist and do what they are told. Found throughout the game - usually the messy victims of the various monsters. "Commissar" - leads to one-way passage to "Gulag" and "Mass-Grave". Kill with 'Gun' or 'The Great Chain' "Surface" - a place infested with Parasites and False-Altruists, if you are heading its way turn around. "Informer" - works for the Commissar and guides him to YOU "CASH" - Money makes the World Go round - Sought by most Parasites "Whining Room" - must avoid the Bleeding-Hearts which misdirect towards "Ineffective-Solutions" and "Hypocrisy" and "False-Altruism" "Twisty-Bureaucratic-Passages ... all alike", go in circles (and waiting lines) forever ... "New-Deal" - has to be repelled by flashing "The Constitution", allowing escape (for awhile) "New Deal Salute" - hand out stretched at waist-height, palm up - an indicator that 'New Deal' is nearby. "Red-Tape" - insidious Substance which slows down all progress and strangles every non-parasite "Lawyer-Middleman" - larval form of Politician, bloodsucker extrordinaire - rats who create a world for rats. "Forest" and "Burnt-Forest" - You have to find 'Match' to burn your Forest down so the Parasites can't confiscate it. "State Church" - coercive force of great magnitude "Death-Taxes" - used by the Taxman to get you again AFTER he kills you by bleeding your descendants dry "Pope" - morality cloaked in gold, frequently found in the 'State-Church' neighborhood. Religious Fetishes can be bought/sold. "Communist-Tyrant" - also named 'The New Czar' - murders your relatives - usually found near Mass-Graves and with Commissar. Enabled by "Useful Idiots" You have to follow the path of 'Freedom' to get to 'The Way-Out' (hint find where 'Rapture' is, and use the word 'down') "Hand-Outs" - a poison that converts the ordinary citizen into a Parasite - DONT EAT THIS!!! "Tax-and-Spend" a never-ending cyclic trap that feeds countless Parasites, making them stronger and more insidious, overwhelming the industrious with burdens. "The-Giant-Hand-of-Big-Government" - use the 'Dodge' command and then "Run" Laissez-Fairies - not bad of themselves, only when Crony-Capitalists are around. Corrupt-Politician - found near the Lawyer and the Mountain-Of-Bribes Free-Market - hated by Crony-Capitalists and Communist-Tyrants, undercuts their power. 'KGB' and 'CIA' - Tools of "Soft War", friends of War-Monger 'False-Altruist' - evil being which will ensnare 'The Ignorant' into Altruism for 'helping', where the gains/advantage goes largely undeservedly to the 'False-Altruist' (who only help themselves). "Monopolists" - Cronies found near Corrupt-Politicians, They will use but really hate Free-Market "Censorship" - Tool of The Tyrant and Commissar. Used against 'Free-Press' and 'Free Speech' "Free-Press" - a hard to find Tool to face off Parasites (Parasite "Propaganda Mill" frequently masquerades as) "Rapture" - materializes as one of 'The Way-Out' s "Fantasy" - the ideas of some which are unreal and illogical and sometimes passed off as Science and History "Union-Thugs" - Deploy your Pinkerton "Welfare-State" (trapped into Parasitehood... Oh Noooooooossss!!!!) "A-Bomb" - (GAME OVER!!!) "The King" - center figure for the sustained power of the undeserving (usually near State Church) "The Giant Roach" - like many parasites, comes out of its filthy little hole at night to spread disease "Anarchist" - Envious Parasite unwilling to find better solutions other than destruction or others. "Racist" - an ignorer of merit and sustainer/maintainer of unwarranted privilege. "LightHouse" - A Pathway to Escape. Note -- for those too young to remember, many of these are twisted references to a game called "The Colossal Cave" and "Adventure", which existed on computers quite a while before the PC (Personal Computer) ever existed. "Step On Roach" command that kills a small parasite - if you don't do this soon their are hundreds of them "Expose the Commie" - find the Mass Grave and use the Armed Populace to kill the Communist-Tyrant "Carnival Bathysphere Line" cable takes you to "Carnival" where you can obtain the "Vorpal Cotton Candy" "Only Man" - when you meet Andrew Ryan who wanders about, say this to him and he will give you a golf club and autographed golfball. The golf club can be used to beat the Splicer zombies. "Art Critic" - conman/charlatan - a self-proclaimed arbiter/judge of art. Has to foist NEW art no matter how bad, to make a living and feel important. "Corpse" - don't be fooled - chop it up good before passing it. Perhaps it is some unfortunate 'done to death' by Parasites nearby, before YOU arrived. "Hooverville" - a misnamed blame myth created by the Socialist and Communist, for a problem which never went away and only got worse after these Parasites came to power and tried their 'solutions'. "Socialist" - a fiend which fools others into enslaving themselves and "knows best" how others should live. "Ryan Dollar" - useful when you find the "Circus of Values" vending machine where you can buy Pep Bars to restore the strength you will need to retain your Freedom and Rights. "Leak Patch Kit" - patch the "Leak", unseal the "Securis Door", get to the "Restroom" "Tea Room" - Kelp Tea is good for you - it prevents scurvy. (Of course you need "Ryan Dollar" to enter Arcadia to get to the Tea Room) Exile - there are two kinds - Willing and Forced. Leaving the Surface was one. "No God" - its own religion, used to subjugate men to those who set themselves up as gods. "Absinthe" - drink enough and all paths seem the right way (at least until you go insane AND THEN All Paths Are The Right Way...) Panhandling 'Artist' - Fended off with "Don't Quit Your Day Job" - The 'game' was to be a 'proof of concept' demonstrating a method to teach children, and to access information by adults. Its advantage was the lowering of labor costs for these activities. One of McClendon's employees had an idea for a more visual game called "Parasite Invaders". --- --- --- Lawsuits in Rapture ? ''' : Rapture Standard Headline : "Mr William Wallace ... 'fire bolts of lightning from his arse'..." - defective Plasmid causing destruction and great bodily harm (and embarrassment) now a Lawsuit against Fontaine Futuristics ..." Unfortunately there still is a need in Rapture for Lawyers (who are a flavor of middle men, with the potential for being MAJOR 'parasites' ). You can't (easily) have city-level commercial ventures without business contracts and such ... And thus also 'bureaucrats'. --- --- --- '''Pipe Lettering -- Sign Lettering Made of Pipe ... : Pipe bits - A commonly found item around the Ruins. Likely to be painted after assembly. Another In-Game 'wizard' based assembly Interface. Of course you have to obtain the various pieces of pipe needed for the shapes. Sorry, metal pipes are NOT neon filled (though you can often get Bioluminous paint). Can be used for a Tutorial on Fabrication assembly (putting pieces together - simpler than the other activities of making/fixing of items). More than a little Creativity can be employed (signs can be redone and improved, and be rather ornate if the Player wishes - and can find the right pipe bits). Shop (commercial) space is rather limited in "Downtown". The space immediately surrounding New Rapture City Hall, which once was a (company town-like) dormitory area for Fontaine's Neptune's Bounty laborers/workers. So there would be lots of 'proper' shops in more outlying areas, or just 'stands' on the edges of the 'Forum'. Player's Residences can have a sign also. The Usual (Game) Vetting rules apply. --- --- --- --- --- . .